An adventure awaits
by Bomberguy789
Summary: Ruby was minding her own business, planning an adventure for her second term at Beacon. But an even better one finds her in an alleyway...


**For reference, this is set between volume 1 and 2 of RWBY, and before season 1 for Doctor Who. Or, if you read the comics, then it may as well be set between the Doctor leaving and then reappearing to Rose.**

 **Anyway, why did I do this? Eh, I dunno, the idea came to me. I chose the 9th Doctor because there is so little fanfiction about him, and I like a rude main character. It's refreshing. It also makes it easier to have a character with flaws, while the other new-who characters can fall into that "perfect person" role really easily. Maybe not 12, but that brings me back to point one.**

 **Anyway, I have some further ideas for this, and if I'm honest I could probably make a full story, but there are tons of full stories that I have in my head and a few that I really should get back to. Shame though. What if the War Doctor took a short break from the war and met Raven when he was "relaxing," out in the wilderness? Or if 11, while trying to get over the Ponds travelled (or at least met) Summer, leading to her death, and THAT made him go into exile?**

* * *

The crash site was off of the eastern coast of Patch, not close enough to any nearby villages that you could see it but close enough that you would know it was there.

It had a certain air of mystery to it, like those haunted houses you would hear about from your friends on nondescript-scary-holiday day, or just general spooky days. The mystery, in this case, being that no one knew what it was, where it was from, how it got there... and why some people never came back from investigating.

No army or political power was too interested. Each council had confirmed that no other council had sent it, on purpose or by accident, and no other militant group had claimed responsibility. Even then, the location of the crash was too far away from any neighbouring towns for its detonation to have much impact with current technology, and even if it was the neighbouring towns were socially, economically, politically and religiously unimportant, not to mention the relatively low populations ruling out effective hostage use.

The scientific community was abuzz for about a week before they slowly bored themselves with its discovery. Meteorites, while rare, had yet to create any scientific advancements worth noting, and further study showed little more than Iron-Nickel compound material. Interesting, to be sure, but its lack of valuable minerals and location in the wilds, also known as "Grimmsville", meant it wasn't worth the time for proper investigation.

Sure, it's origin was a mystery, but who even cared to solve it?

The media scrounged up as much as they could before people grew bored and stopped looking. Yeah, some weird thing crashed in the middle of nowhere, let's check out if Ozpin was secretly in an affair with that bar maid!

And so the world moved on.

Few came looking.

Fewer still cared that fewer came back.

* * *

Ruby was enjoying her holiday back in Patch.

She and Yang had enjoyed Beacon, it was a lot of fun and she really liked how Weiss and Blake had learned to get along (all a part of her operation: "make everyone into besties"), but Patch was home and home was... well, home. She caught up with an old friend of hers (a rare sight, and title that could only be attributed to two people since she was moved past her associates), got some cookies from the local bakery her mum used to love, and relaxed as she replaced all her school problems with ideas for new activities. She had needed to... repurpose, Weiss's binder (she is not crook!) just to note all of her ideas down!

But apparently Yang found the new _hair salon_ more important than their awesome second semester, so Ruby was out by herself thinking up new ideas.

Her hometown wasn't _exactly_ the same as when she left it, obviously. The people were older than before, and she supposed she was too. One or two of the "adventuring" type of people had been gone a little longer than usual, but that was par the norm really. Her old friend Cake Feline was one of them. Maybe she could get her to fill her in on the details, help rebuild burnt bridges and all that.

There was also some strange blue box next to the playground, but it wasn't really all that interesting. She'd tried to look inside the windows (it's not spying, or being nosey! It's... investigating) but they were blurred out, and she didn't see an ownership logo so... nothing worth noting. Oh, but it did have this sorry attempt of a Beowolf spray painted on it. What a bad wolf drawing!

It was as she walked past one of the many alleyways that she used to roam as a child that she heard a scuffle.

What kind of scuffle?

The "trying not to attract attention" kind.

Now why would someone not be trying to attract attention?

Ruby stepped closer to see find out.

"Hello?" She called out. "Is someone there?"

More scuffling. It was coming from some bins a little further down, but even she, an innocent girl dreaming of being a hero, knew of the homeless and how they often stuck closer to the market, where food was thrown away all the time, rather than the more industrial areas.

"Do you need help?" Ruby nervously shuffled remembering one blond friend who hadn't particularly liked the idea. "Not that I'm assuming you need help of course, but if you do need help or assistance then I'd be happy to help or assist, which I suppose is really the same thing but assistance sounds like you don't really need help which is fine, but if you DO need help then I would happy to end my assistance, which-"

"Don't bother. It can't understand you."

Ruby turned with a startled yelp before flushing with an embarrassed apology. In front of her now stood a fairly middle-aged man, with a close-crop haircut, black leather jacket and, to Ruby's further embarrassment, an annoyed frown. He looked at her as if she was a meddling child - a stare that Ruby knew all too well even before she met Weiss.

"Sorry sir! I didn't see you there-"

"Clearly," he cut her off, rolling his eyes before striding towards the creature. "Now are you going to stand there all day or are you going to move?"

Ruby let out a quick yelp before hopping out of the man's way, a little annoyed by his frank dismissal but more curious than she cared to admit as to what he was actually doing. He wasn't wearing any official clothing or anything. Black (but clearly worn) leather jacket, black uniform leggings, black leather boots, a deep purple shirt... it should have looked like a uniform, but it just appeared so casual when he wore it. Maybe he was undercover?

"Are you a policeman?" She asked, curiously. He looked back at her, raising an eyebrow as if to make sure she was serious. "It's just that I'm a huntress, or at least a huntress-in-training, and I've been studying at Beacon so - well, I guess I've only studied there for a single term, but I'm a really good-"

"Do you ever stop talking?" He asked, rather rudely in Ruby's opinion. She mumbled sorry before looking down at her feet. He sighed before crouching down before the bins, still shaking all this time. "Right. Now to answer your question; no I'm not a policeman, and no I don't need the help of a huntress."

Ruby mumbled in disappointment before nodding, crestfallen. She really had a way of mucking things up didn't she?

Apparently the man must have taken pity on her, for he then said "I do think I could use an extra pair of hands though. This wasn't the only creature to have escaped."

Ruby brightened up instantly, her smile shining as if nothing ever happened. "Thank you! What kind of animal is it? Is it a dog? I'm only saying because I have a dog, he's called-"

"Stop," he ordered. She did so immediately, watching in fascination as the man pulled a frankly massive orange from within his pocket (how on Remnant had he managed to fit it in there?) and held it towards the bin, as if it were an offering. Slowly the bin began to stop rattling as whatever was inside slowed its movements. Slowly, so slowly she could barely even spot it, she saw the man inch his hand towards his pocket.

The rattling stopped.

Ruby held her breath.

The man grasped something within his pocket.

...

...

...

With a screech a small blur of pink and purple lunged towards the man's outstretched hand, trying to grab the orange but remaining stuck as the man refused to let it go, instead slamming the syringe in his pocket into the body of the fur-ball. With an ear-shattering high-pitched shriek, the creature struggled against the man's grip before growing tired, its movements becoming visibly sluggish and dispassionate until, with a final breath, it stilled completely.

Ruby released the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

As the man stood up, cupping his arm underneath the creature, Ruby finally got a good look at the strange thing.

Pink was the first word that came to mind. It was small, about the same size as Zwei, but instead of the grey fur she had come to love it was instead a greasy-looking pink hairy coat, the hair itself looking as if it had been electrocuted - how else could it possibly extend at such strange angles?

Its four feet were small and rounded, like clay stumps, and it's head reminded her oddly of those ugly toy trolls she used to throw away as a kid before running outside to fight imaginary Grimm. It had no ears to speak of, but rather three antennas along its spine that held a deep purple hue within them. The colour within the antennas seemed to shift with the furred animal's breathing, a pattern so hypnotic she almost didn't notice as the man left her behind.

"Hey, wait up!"

The man didn't seem to pay attention to her as she struggled to keep up with his pace without jogging, looking for all the world like a rejected puppy. "Who are you? What is that thing? Why is it here? Who are you? Wait, I already said that, what are you doing here?"

"Do you ever stop asking questions? Honestly that's all you humans ever do, whine about the weather and ask me annoying questions."

"Sorry," Ruby muttered, downcast. They continued to walk in silence. It seemed that even the strange man wasn't entirely comfortable, but that may have been because Ruby was secretly using her "2 seconds from crying" technique. She had learnt to use it only under the most dire of circumstances, and right now there was _no way_ she wasn't getting answers to what in Remnant was going on.

The man sighed before stopping in the middle of the street, the fur ball tucked under his armpit. "Fine. One question at a time. If you annoy me, I walk, and you go on your merry way. Got it?" Ruby broke into her widest grin yet, practically vibrating with energy. "Remember rule two?" He threatened.

Ruby stopped vibrating. "Okay... who are you?" The man smirked.

"The Doctor. Next question?"

"Wait, the Doctor?... Doctor who?" The man smiled, as if he knew an inside joke.

"Just the Doctor. You've got three more questions."

"What?!" Ruby yelped, "that wasn't part of the-"

"I can still walk away you know..." the newly named Doctor mentioned innocently.

"Ugh, fine..." Ruby grumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"Picking up some lost aliens that need to be returned home. Two more questions."

"Okay, wh- wait, did you say aliens? You're picking up aliens. Aliens are real?"

"You know what, since those all had the same answer, I'm going to be nice and say "yes." One question left," he reminded

"What? But I- ugh, how do I do this, um..." Ruby was thoughtful for a second, but it was her growing smile that alerted the Doctor that he may have made a mistake.

"Can I come with?"

And there came the decision.

It should have been so easy to say no. He could recognise the puppy eyes technique when he saw one (and could list four planets where it had been outlawed since what would forever be known as "The ultimate dogfight"), and could resist it if he wished. The problem was... he didn't want to.

It was lonely, travelling across the universe. He wasn't particularly happy about it, but the universe still needed saving and someone had to do it. But he needed help. Sure, he could still destroy the bad guys, purge the evil of the universe, exterminate all who chose to do wrong... but it was hard. Far harder than it had been before the war. He wasn't even sure he was living up to the standard he set for himself.

And she was a huntress, right? A huntress meant aura. He didn't need her getting in a gun fight, but if she had a kinetic-energy-repellent barrier surrounding her then she was safer, right? Another child wouldn't have to die. He could indulge himself just this once.

Just this once. And then never again.

She must have seen the answer in his eyes, because almost immediately she was running her mouth again, talking of adventures and aliens. He chuckled. Reminded him of Susan, back when she was 50. Good times. Best make sure that was all they would ever be.

"If we're going to do this, then you do everything I say. You don't question what I say, you don't do what you think is right unless you ask me first, you do not under any circumstances run off, and just to make sure everything runs smoothly you are going to drop your weapon right here, right now."

"WHAT?!" Ruby pulled her weapon, still in gun form, from underneath her cloak and hugged it possessively against her chest. "I can't give up my baby! What if we need it?"

"We won't."

"But what if we find something dangerous?" she pointed out.

"Then we run."

"Why not fight?"

"Why's it always got to be a fight with you lot?" The Doctor complained childishly, "Honestly, you'd think that you'd get over it, but it's like an addiction."

"Hey!"

"A really annoying one too. Like smoking, or Halloween."

"What's wrong with Halloween?"

"They never get the Gremlin's right," he answered, as if it was obvious. "But that's beside the point. Either you drop the gun, or you don't come. My job, my rules," he declared, and that was final.

Ruby grumbled angrily, muttering some very unkind words before with a sigh, she gently placed Crescent Rose on the floor.

"Good. Now pick it up," the Doctor ordered.

"What?! But you just said-"

"And leave it where any nutter might take their chances?" He pointed out, making Ruby blush in embarrassment once more. "Come on you, we'll find somewhere to drop it off then return this fur ball to its transport shuttle."

Ruby beamed brighter than the sun, excitedly pulling the Doctor to make him move faster as she rushed off.

Off to an adventure.


End file.
